Molecular mechanisms of ethanol-associated oro-esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Cancer Lett. 2015 Mar 9;
Authors: Liu Y, Chen H, Sun Z, Chen X
Abstract
Alcohol drinking is a major etiological factor of oro-esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OESCC). Both local and systemic effects of ethanol may promote carcinogenesis, especially among chronic alcoholics. However, molecular mechanisms of ethanol-associated OESCC are still not well understood. In this review, we summarize current understandings and propose three mechanisms of ethanol-associated OESCC: (1) Disturbance of systemic metabolism of nutrients: during ethanol metabolism in the liver, systemic metabolism of retinoids, zinc, iron and methyl groups is altered. These nutrients are known to be associated with the development of OESCC. (2) Disturbance of redox metabolism in squamous epithelial cells: when ethanol is metabolized in oro-esophageal squamous epithelial cells, reactive oxygen species are generated and produce oxidative damage. Meanwhile, ethanol may also disturb fatty-acid metabolism in these cells. (3) Disturbance of signaling pathways in squamous epithelial cells: due to its physico-chemical properties, ethanol changes cell membrane fluidity and shape, and may thus impact multiple signaling pathways. Advanced molecular techniques in genomics, epigenomics, metabolomics and microbiomics will help us elucidate how ethanol promotes OESCC.
PMID: 25766659 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A Targeted Metabolomics Approach toward Understanding Metabolic Variations in Rice under Pesticide Stress.
Anal Biochem. 2015 Mar 9;
Authors: Mahdavi V, Farimani MM, Fathi F, Ghassempour A
Abstract
Diazinon insecticide is widely applied throughout rice (Oryza sativa L.) fields in Iran. However, concerns are now being raised about its potential adverse impacts on rice fields. In this study, a time-course metabolic change in rice plants was investigated after diazinon treatment using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and subsequently, statistical strategy of Random Forest (RF) was performed in order to find the stress-associated effects. According to the results, a wide range of metabolites were dynamically varied as a result of the plant response to diazinon such as biosynthesis and metabolism of sugars, amino acids, organic acids and Phenylpropanoids, all correlating with the exposure time. Plant response was involved in multiple metabolic pathways, most of which were correlated with the exposure time. In this study, RF was explored as a potential multivariate method for GC/MS analysis of metabolomics data of rice (Oryza sativa L.) plants under diazinon stress; more than 31 metabolites were quantitatively determined and time-course metabolic response of the plant during different days after treatment was measured. Results demonstrated RF as a potential multivariate method for gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of changes in plant metabolome under insecticide stress.
PMID: 25766578 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

A genome-wide scan for signatures of directional selection in domesticated pigs.
BMC Genomics. 2015 Feb 25;16(1):130
Authors: Moon S, Kim TH, Lee KT, Kwak W, Lee T, Lee SW, Kim MJ, Cho K, Kim N, Chung WH, Sung S, Park T, Cho S, Groenen M, Nielsen R, Kim Y, Kim H
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Animal domestication involved drastic phenotypic changes driven by strong artificial selection and also resulted in new populations of breeds, established by humans. This study aims to identify genes that show evidence of recent artificial selection during pig domestication.
RESULTS: Whole-genome resequencing of 30 individual pigs from domesticated breeds, Landrace and Yorkshire, and 10 Asian wild boars at ~16-fold coverage was performed resulting in over 4.3 million SNPs for 19,990 genes. We constructed a comprehensive genome map of directional selection by detecting selective sweeps using an FST-based approach that detects directional selection in lineages leading to the domesticated breeds and using a haplotype-based test that detects ongoing selective sweeps within the breeds. We show that candidate genes under selection are significantly enriched for loci implicated in quantitative traits important to pig reproduction and production. The candidate gene with the strongest signals of directional selection belongs to group III of the metabolomics glutamate receptors, known to affect brain functions associated with eating behavior, suggesting that loci under strong selection include loci involved in behaviorial traits in domesticated pigs including tameness.
CONCLUSIONS: We show that a significant proportion of selection signatures coincide with loci that were previously inferred to affect phenotypic variation in pigs. We further identify functional enrichment related to behavior, such as signal transduction and neuronal activities, for those targets of selection during domestication in pigs.
PMID: 25765548 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Mechanism study of alachlor biodegradation by Paecilomyces marquandii with proteomic and metabolomic methods.
J Hazard Mater. 2015 Mar 3;291:52-64
Authors: Szewczyk R, Soboń A, Słaba M, Długoński J
Abstract
Alachlor is an herbicide that is widely used worldwide to protect plant crops against broadleaf weeds and annual grasses. However, due to its endocrine-disrupting activity, its application had been banned in the European Union. As described in our earlier work, Paecilomyces marquandii is a microscopic fungus capable of alachlor removal by N-acetyl oxidation. Our current work uses proteomics and metabolomics to gain a better understanding of alachlor biodegradation by the microscopic fungus P. marquandii. The data revealed that the addition of alachlor reduced the culture growth and glucose consumption rates. Moreover, the rates of glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acids (TCA) cycle increased during the initial stage of growth, and there was a shift toward the formation of supplementary materials (UDP-glucose/galactose) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavengers (ascorbate). Proteomic analysis revealed that the presence of xenobiotics resulted in a strong upregulation of enzymes related to energy, sugar metabolism and ROS production. However, the unique overexpression of cyanide hydratase in alachlor-containing cultures may implicate this enzyme as the key protein involved in the alachlor biodegradation pathway. The characterization of P. marquandii-mediated alachlor removal in terms of cell structure and function provides a deeper insight into the strategies of microorganisms toward xenobiotic biodegradation.
PMID: 25765177 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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The Human Toxome Project.
ALTEX. 2015 Mar 4;
Authors: Bouhifd M, Andersen ME, Baghdikian C, Boekelheide K, Crofton KM, Fornace Jr AJ, Kleensang A, Li H, Livi C, Maertens A, McMullen PD, Rosenberg M, Thomas R, Vantangoli M, Yager JD, Zhao L, Hartung T
Abstract
The Human Toxome Project, funded as an NIH Transformative Research grant 2011-2016, is focused on developing the concepts and the means for deducing, validating and sharing molecular pathways of toxicity (PoT). Using the test case of estrogenic endocrine disruption, the responses of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells are being phenotyped by transcriptomics and mass-spectroscopy-based metabolomics. The bioinformatics tools for PoT deduction represent a core deliverable. A number of challenges for quality and standardization of cell systems, omics technologies and bioinformatics are being addressed. In parallel, concepts for annotation, validation and sharing of PoT information, as well as their link to adverse outcomes, are being developed. A reasonably comprehensive public database of PoT, the Human Toxome Knowledge-base, could become a point of reference for toxicological research and regulatory test strategies.
PMID: 25742299 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Health effects from swimming training in chlorinated pools and the corresponding metabolic stress pathways.
PLoS One. 2015;10(3):e0119241
Authors: Li JH, Wang ZH, Zhu XJ, Deng ZH, Cai CX, Qiu LQ, Chen W, Lin YJ
Abstract
Chlorination is the most popular method for disinfecting swimming pool water; however, although pathogens are being killed, many toxic compounds, called disinfection by-products (DBPs), are formed. Numerous epidemiological publications have associated the chlorination of pools with dysfunctions of the respiratory system and with some other diseases. However, the findings concerning these associations are not always consistent and have not been confirmed by toxicological studies. Therefore, the health effects from swimming in chlorinated pools and the corresponding stress reactions in organisms are unclear. In this study, we show that although the growth and behaviors of experimental rats were not affected, their health, training effects and metabolic profiles were significantly affected by a 12-week swimming training program in chlorinated water identical to that of public pools. Interestingly, the eyes and skin are the organs that are more directly affected than the lungs by the irritants in chlorinated water; instead of chlorination, training intensity, training frequency and choking on water may be the primary factors for lung damage induced by swimming. Among the five major organs (the heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys), the liver is the most likely target of DBPs. Through metabolomics analysis, the corresponding metabolic stress pathways and a defensive system focusing on taurine were presented, based on which the corresponding countermeasures can be developed for swimming athletes and for others who spend a lot of time in chlorinated swimming pools.
PMID: 25742134 [PubMed - in process]

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Phospholipase D affects translocation of NPR1 to the nucleus in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Front Plant Sci. 2015;6:59
Authors: Janda M, Šašek V, Chmelařová H, Andrejch J, Nováková M, Hajšlová J, Burketová L, Valentová O
Abstract
Phytohormone salicylic acid (SA) is a crucial component of plant-induced defense against biotrophic pathogens. Although the key players of the SA pathway are known, there are still gaps in the understanding of the molecular mechanism and the regulation of particular steps. In our previous research, we showed in Arabidopsis suspension cells that n-butanol, which specifically modulates phospholipase D activity, significantly suppresses the transcription of the pathogenesis related (PR-1) gene, which is generally accepted as the SA pathway marker. In the presented study, we have investigated the site of n-butanol action in the SA pathway. We were able to show in Arabidopsis plants treated with SA that n-butanol inhibits the transcription of defense genes (PR-1, WRKY38). Fluorescence microscopy of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants expressing 35S::NPR1-GFP (nonexpressor pathogenesis related 1) revealed significantly decreased nuclear localization of NPR1 in the presence of n-butanol. On the other hand, n-butanol did not decrease the nuclear localization of NPR1 in 35S::npr1C82A-GFP and 35S::npr1C216A-GFP mutants constitutively expressing NPR1 monomers. Mass spectrometric analysis of plant extracts showed that n-butanol significantly changes the metabolic fingerprinting while t-butanol had no effect. We found groups of the plant metabolites, influenced differently by SA and n-butanol treatment. Thus, we proposed several metabolites as markers for n-butanol action.
PMID: 25741350 [PubMed]

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Integration of metabolomics data into metabolic networks.
Front Plant Sci. 2015;6:49
Authors: Töpfer N, Kleessen S, Nikoloski Z
Abstract
Metabolite levels together with their corresponding metabolic fluxes are integrative outcomes of biochemical transformations and regulatory processes and they can be used to characterize the response of biological systems to genetic and/or environmental changes. However, while changes in transcript or to some extent protein levels can usually be traced back to one or several responsible genes, changes in fluxes and particularly changes in metabolite levels do not follow such rationale and are often the outcome of complex interactions of several components. The increasing quality and coverage of metabolomics technologies have fostered the development of computational approaches for integrating metabolic read-outs with large-scale models to predict the physiological state of a system. Constraint-based approaches, relying on the stoichiometry of the considered reactions, provide a modeling framework amenable to analyses of large-scale systems and to the integration of high-throughput data. Here we review the existing approaches that integrate metabolomics data in variants of constrained-based approaches to refine model reconstructions, to constrain flux predictions in metabolic models, and to relate network structural properties to metabolite levels. Finally, we discuss the challenges and perspectives in the developments of constraint-based modeling approaches driven by metabolomics data.
PMID: 25741348 [PubMed]

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The importance of mass spectrometric dereplication in fungal secondary metabolite analysis.
Front Microbiol. 2015;6:71
Authors: Nielsen KF, Larsen TO
Abstract
Having entered the Genomic Era, it is now evident that the biosynthetic potential of filamentous fungi is much larger than was thought even a decade ago. Fungi harbor many cryptic gene clusters encoding for the biosynthesis of polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, and terpenoids - which can all undergo extensive modifications by tailoring enzymes - thus potentially providing a large array of products from a single pathway. Elucidating the full chemical profile of a fungal species is a challenging exercise, even with elemental composition provided by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) used in combination with chemical databases (e.g., AntiBase) to dereplicate known compounds. This has led to a continuous effort to improve chromatographic separation in conjunction with improvement in HRMS detection. Major improvements have also occurred with 2D chromatography, ion-mobility, MS/MS and MS(3), stable isotope labeling feeding experiments, classic UV/Vis, and especially automated data-mining and metabolomics software approaches as the sheer amount of data generated is now the major challenge. This review will focus on the development and implementation of dereplication strategies and will highlight the importance of each stage of the process from sample preparation to chromatographic separation and finally toward both manual and more targeted methods for automated dereplication of fungal natural products using state-of-the art MS instrumentation.
PMID: 25741325 [PubMed]

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Molecular toxicity of cerium oxide nanoparticles to the freshwater alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is associated with supra-environmental exposure concentrations.
Nanotoxicology. 2015 Mar 5;:1-10
Authors: Taylor NS, Merrifield R, Williams TD, Chipman JK, Lead JR, Viant MR
Abstract
Abstract Ceria nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used as fuel catalysts and consequently are likely to enter the environment. Their potential impacts on. biota at environmentally relevant concentrations, including uptake and toxicity, remain to be elucidated and quantitative data on which to assess risk are sparse. Therefore, a definitive assessment of the molecular and phenotypic effects of ceria NPs was undertaken, using well-characterised mono-dispersed NPs as their toxicity is likely to be higher, enabling a conservative hazard assessment. Unbiased transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches were used to investigate the potential toxicity of tightly constrained 4-5 nm ceria NPs to the unicellular green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a sentinel freshwater species. A wide range of exposure concentrations were investigated from predicted environmental levels, to support hazard assessment, to supra-environmental levels to provide insight into molecular toxicity pathways. Ceria NPs were internalised into intracellular vesicles within C. reinhardtii, yet caused no significant effect on algal growth at any exposure concentration. Molecular perturbations were only detected at supra-environmental ceria NP-concentrations, primarily down-regulation of photosynthesis and carbon fixation with associated effects on energy metabolism. For acute exposures to small mono-dispersed particles, it can be concluded there should be little concern regarding their dispersal into the environment for this trophic level.
PMID: 25740379 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Cyclic Fatty Acids Found in Frying Oils are Detoxified via Classical Drug Metabolic Pathway but also by β-Oxidation and Eliminated as Conjugates in Rats.
Lipids. 2015 Mar 5;
Authors: Desmarais A, Pujos-Guillot E, Lyan B, Martin JF, Leblanc N, Angers P, Sébédio JL
Abstract
Cyclic fatty acid monomers (CFAM) are mainly formed during heat treatments, such as frying, of edible oils. These fatty acids are mixtures of disubstituted five- or six-carbon-membered ring structures. Some earlier studies have suggested that some of these molecules could be metabolized and detoxified, but so far, neither the detoxification mechanisms nor the metabolite identifications have been elucidated. The objective of the present study was to identify the metabolites resulting from the metabolism and detoxification of CFAM. A deuterium-labeled CFAM, [9-(2)H]-10-(6-propyl-2-cyclohexenyl)-dodecenoic acid, was synthesized and fed to rats for 3 days, along with a standard chow diet while the control group was fed the same chow diet which did not contain any CFAM. Biological fluids (urine, blood) were collected for both groups of rats and analyzed using an untargeted metabolomic approach by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Two discriminant metabolites and 18 molecules derived from CFAM were identified or tentatively identified in plasma and urine samples, respectively. The structures of the metabolites suggest that CFAM having a six-carbon-membered ring could be detoxified by the classical drug metabolic pathway (phase I and phase II reactions), but our study also indicates that these are substrates for the β-oxidation pathway and eliminated as glucuronide, sulphate, and/or nitrate conjugates. Urine metabolomics investigations without diet effects have indicated a higher excretion of medium-chain acylcarnitines in the D-CFAM diet group, which may indicate an incomplete β-oxidation.
PMID: 25739730 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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[Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry for metabolomic analysis of Escherichia coli].
Se Pu. 2014 Oct;32(10):1084-93
Authors: Wang X, Gao P, Xu G
Abstract
The zwitterionic hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (ZIC-HILIC/MS) method was developed and applied for studying the metabolome of Escherichia coli. In this method, the linear ranges of the 52 representative compounds were between 2-6 orders of magnitude. Moreover the lowest limits of detection of most compounds were at ng/mL levels. The analysis for six samples prepared in parallel showed that the method had good reproducibility with more than 85% metabolites with the RSDs of peak area less than 30%. The precision of the method was tested by evaluating the relative recoveries of six internal standards at the low, middle and high concentrations. The results exhibited that the intraday precisions (RSDs) of the six compounds in the same concentrations were less than 20%. The recoveries of most compounds were accepted in the range of 70%-130%. The results of metabolomic analysis of three Escherichia coli strains with genetic modified yfcC gene showed that some small peptides, amino acids, nucleosides, organic acids and phospholipids changed differentially after the yfcC gene modification. These results indicated that the ZIC-HILIC/MS method could detect diverse metabolites and be used for metabolomic analysis purpose with good reproducibility and stability.
PMID: 25739269 [PubMed - in process]